A First Look at the Manager’s Amendment

The Senate Leadership is scheduling the first vote on their health care bill later today. A thorough critique and analysis of the 383 page manager’s amendment cannot possibly be done in the short time frame given by the Democratic leadership in the Senate. The race to push through the towering 2,000 page bill leaves little time for Senators, their staff, or voters to understand the breathtaking impact this legislation — that effects one-sixth of the U.S. economy — will have on the lives of every citizen.

In our brief review of the manager’s amendment, it is clear this amendment does nothing to alter the general policy direction of the underlying Senate bill, which accelerates the concentration of power that Washington will exercise over the financing and delivery of health care for over 300 million Americans. The underlying bill still includes individual and employer mandates, a massive and costly Medicaid expansion, highly prescriptive control over health care benefits and services, the reduction in access to Medicare services, and dozens of new taxes impacting Americans at all income levels.

Here are a few highlights from the manager’s amendment:

More federal rules and regulation over health care benefits and services. A one-size-fits-all system is incapable of appreciating the unique needs or personal choices of individuals and families and re-enforces the concentration of power over benefit and services to faceless bureaucrats and Washington politicians.

Federally-approved multi-state health plans. While technically not a public option, this scheme will have the same results. By giving unprecedented power and authority to the Director of Office of Personal Management, these multi-state plans will simply administer the government plan.

Insufficient segregation of taxpayer funds from abortion. Despite the inclusion of the Nelson amendment, when the federal government’s role over the financing and delivery of health care grows, as it does under this bill, a requirement to segregate premiums that cover abortion services would be merely cosmetic in practice.

New adjustments to the federal Medicaid payments to the states with special treatment for some states. New federal funds for the states only shifts the costs from state taxpayers to federal taxpayers and the sweet-heart deals for certain states, like Nebraska, only exacerbates state disparities.

Repeal of the Physician Payment Updates. The House and Senate continue to try to hide the true cost of these bills through budget gimmicks, creating the illusion that costly provisions (like the physician payment changes) are not applicable. But, in reality, these cuts will get “fixed” through other must-pass bills as they have every time before.

Sundry of new programs. The amendment leaves nothing behind. For instance, the bill includes new programs, such as funding to support pregnant and parenting teens and women.

New Taxes. The underlying bill already includes over a dozen new taxes, many of which apply to Americans at all income levels. This amendment adds yet another tax — an excise tax on tanning beds!

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The States need to get their brightest Constitutional scholars onboard and take this to the Supreme Court before the court gets packed with any more activist legislators from the bench! They can also file a separate suit addressing the unconstitutional mandate threatening Americans with jail/fine.

NOW, maybe well-meaning Democrats will understand the danger of allowing the radical left-wing of their party to speak on their “behalf”. Ultimately, the Democrats will suffer as well.

These leftists make no distinction in destroying any opposition. Their oratory, arrogance, smoke and mirrors, and flat out bribery is a disgrace. Most importantly, they are not protecting the Constitution and they are not representing the will of the American people.

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I've always wondered what kind of cognitive dissonance it requires to simultaneously complain about increasing funds for health subsidies, and "cutting" Medicare. You realize that Medicare is basically a single-payer system for a certain age group, right? If anything you should be applauding efforts to find cost savings anywhere in government. Or are entitlement programs OK if they mostly help your demographics?

The problem here is all democrats are corrupt, period! I have never in the many years I have been voting I have never voted a party ticket, but from this day forward I will never vote for a Democrat for anything. Here in TX we do not vote for an office titled "Head Thief" if we did I think only Democrats would be able to run

At exactly what time in history have the democrats EVER come up with a plan to CUT COSTS? RIGHT! NEVER! Obamacare…the new post office, the new social security system, the new illegal immigrant giveaway program, the new free abortion for everyone is coming to you soon! UH, your TAX BILL will get there a few years ahead though so just relax, AND PAY UP SUCKER! And the millions of you folks who work for insurance companies get ready to file for unemployment compensation! Hey, the printing presses are cranking!

Medicare was intended for a "certain" age group when it was first instituted. I suggest you check the number of people on welfare or that are disabled that draw medicare benefits. Some of these people of all age groups have never payed a dime in Medicare tax.

Medicare is a rip off, for the doctors, hospitals, and the public in general.

Considering all the problems that this bill either brings to the table or fails to address and considering the process by which the bill will finally pass, I see no reason for the new congress formed in 2011 to honor any of the deals required to pass this thing. Hopefully, beginning in the 2011 congress (in which the dems will have been voted out)the repeal of this bill and the beginning (after the economy,jobs and energy are fixed) of real health care reform can begin.

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There ar those on Medicare who never paid into it, agreat deal of tem are widows who never worked but their husbands did, the travesty is that there are those who were on medicaid and now on Medicare as well as immigrants who never worked either, the same goes for SOC. SEC.there are immigrants collecting that also, but then you have all the special interest crying about how unfair it is that we who worked get our benefis and the the ones who didn't(or husbands/wives)are not getting the same, now we have Sen. making deals so we do with less an PAY MORE.

Anyone capable of being honest with themselves can no longer believe that there is such a thing as a moderate Democrat. Note not one republican Senator voted for this bill. That said. I believe that for a certain number of them. The decision was based on wether or not they could servive being re-elected and thus be able to continue attending cocktail parties in DC. We know who they are and they must be replaced with people who possess unyeilding conservative principals.

Why isn't the media not reporting this stuff? (Rhetorical question of course). What does this tell you that they have to sneak, hurry, bribe, cajole, beat, threaten, twist, politicize, spin and essentially, not answer any questions? What are they trying to hide? The media that can determine which golf club Elin used on Tiger's escalade can't be bothered with details of a takeover of 1/6 of the American economy and the trashing of the Constitution? I lay the blame solely on ignorant professors and teachers who long ago lost sight of the importance of the Constitution and why we died to safeguard it. Shame on the media, shame on academia and shame on the voters who allowed these idiots to prevail.

Logical outcomes. Government just expanded by 1/5th to accomodate all the new $100K per year bureaucrats coming out of this bill to tell YOU how your health care will be managed. I do not believe this is the stimulus and recovery program you thought you were buying when you elected Obama. Get ready for gun control, public paid abortion, extinction of health insurance companies, extinction of medical research facilities and the slow strangulation of health care alternatives for the newly enslaved masses under this abomination. You will get your health care alright, but not what you think it should be! Keep in mind, there is health care for the masses, then there is health care for the unions, the Congress and people who can pay cash or go elsewhere in the world to get it. By the way, if you think you are paying too much now, just wait, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Democrats with out souls. They in congress sold out the american people, and the united states for 30 pices of siliver, are these the type of people who have no honor to represent you in congress and the house of representives in 2010. You who voted for this do you want to be fooled twice the democratic party has america for sale at tax payers expence

Dems have long championed the maternal role of 'gubment'…for example, Social Security, and yet, we who are young know the virtue of planning and privately funding a vigorous retirement.

One thing to think about is how our churches have failed to keep their hospitals open and serving those in need. Churches will now have an even tougher time since more of parishoners' incomes will now be in the control of the maturing plutocracy. Your clergies have gone along with expanding plutocracy because they think it helps them meet religious mandates to help those in need. Of course we know that the worst consequence of this legislation is to move us away from individually free thought and morality to group and often decadent morality. Conservatives need to start drafting Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota and Ron Paul from Texas as their candidates. The caster oil of liberalism will need a powerful antidote. Finally, find here a link to William Sumner's thinking on plutocracy and encourage the Tea Party to develop a plan to defeat it. We must have balanced budgets or we are putting our children and grandchildren in a figurative debtors prison. http://mises.org/journals/jls/18_4/18_4_1.pdf

Well, the handwritting is on the wall. Republicans must offer conservative candidates or they will be crushed. The people want conservative values and are more than willing to vote out the liberal, progressive Democrats. However, if the Independents and Republicans cannot pick ONE candidate to run against the Democrats, the Democrats will win their seat back. United we stand or divided we will fail !!

The time to start planning for Novemeber 2010 is now! We need to see people with conservative principles starting to speak out against the local liberal Democrat or moderate Republican. Start to concentrate on the State level and call the respective individuals out for what they are…liars and whores. They speak the party line and have principles that can be bought with our tax dollars.

Personally, if I can't read it, I don't signit. I would expect no less from anyone who works for me. I would expect that you all would agree with this. So as they come up for renewal, fire them.

The other is, by law and providing the two Houses come to an agreement and do pass something and the President signs it, it must be made available to all persons and parties and agents thereof, in writing, in common man language, prior to going into effect and affect.

I, as an AMERICAN, am ashamed of what is going on in DC! Voting on a Healthcare bill, not wanted by the MAJORITY of AMERICAN's, at 1am in the morning should say something. Even to the (SLOW learning) republicians and to the "BRIBE" taking

"Socialist" Democraps. The thing that gets me is all the people that think obama is so great will have all this fall on their heads as well. Then they'll start crying that their FREE ride is over!! LOLOLOLOL SUCKER!

Thanks Mr. Cardin and Ms. Mikulski for helping to shove this legislation down our collective throats. Did you even spend any time reading the legislation? I doubt it. Thanks to you and the rest of your so called center colleagues, unemployment will continue to rise, only a fraction of the people you think will benefit from this reform will actually receive help, cost will continue to sky rocket, the deficit will continue to balloon and my boss will be required to drop all of his employees from his company provided insurance plan and pay the fine to businesses because it's cheaper than providing quality health care insurance to his employees, and put them into an inferior plan, run by a broke system, namely the US Government. My hope for you and the rest of the 60 members that voted for this injustice, is to be thrown out of office in disgrace. The polls say that 80% of the American people do not want the US Government invading health care, but your arrogance has said loud and clear, SHUT UP, WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO BECAUSE WE WON. Bad luck next election cycle, maybe you should do us all a favor and not run at all.

Thanks for the collective colonoscopy, Senator. Now go home and have yourself a Merry Christmas, if I'm allowed to say that, knowing that all the American people got in their stocking was a huge lump of crap.

Considering it is the intent of Obama and the Democrats to increase the federal bureaucracy to the point it controls everything, it is no surprise that Reid would do anything he thought he could get away with in order to pass a bill that will help to destroy private enterprise, raise taxes, and add new layers of federal controls.

If this is the change and the hope the majority of Americans really wanted, I hope they enjoy living under a tyrannical government that confiscates their wealth and destroys their lives and future.

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